Love Hurts

Chapter 9

I woke up the next morning sore and confused. I was sore from the beating the previous day. And I was confused because I didn’t know why my father would flip out on me like that. Well I now know to stay the hell away from him and I’ll just not talk to him.

I got out of my bed and walked slowly into the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror and gasped. A purple bruise was covering half my face. It was tender to the touch. I can’t be seen like this. But I have no choice and I have no idea where this bruise came from.

I changed into a pair of loose fitting sweats and a white cotton tank top. I walked down the stairs to the kitchen to see my father and Claire eating breakfast. When I came in they both stopped eating and looked at me. Claire gasped and my father looked shocked. Good.

I walked over to Claire and hugged her and kissed her cheek. She looked surprised then she smiled.

"Thank you for everything last night." I said with a smile.

"You are very welcome honey." she said back. "Would you like anything for breakfast?"

"No thank you. It hurts to much to eat." I said quietly. Claire nodded in understanding. I glanced back at my father and he was looking at me with a pained expression.

"Bridget i am so sorry." he said.

"If you’re so sorry then why did you do it in the first place? Do you hit Claire?" I asked in anger. When he looked like he was about to say something I left the house. I walked outside and decided I should find Kellen.

I walked around the back of the house to the back yard to find a volleyball net set up to one side of the yard. And on the other side was a wooden playground. Nobody was out here so I walked up the small hill into the woods. And what I found back there amazed me.

About 20 feet into the woods there was a community. Lots of houses everywhere and children playing. I walked the path right down the middle. Occasionally a ball would land in my path and I would smile at the child coming back to get it.

"Excuse me! ma'am?" I was asked by a woman behind me. I turned around with a smile and saw a woman in the early fifties with an apron around her waist and a wooden spoon in her hand.

"Yes?" I said. The woman looked nervous at first but then she found courage and stepped closer to me.

"Your Bridget right?" she asked and i nodded. "oh good. so rumor around here is that your mated to my son." she said with a smile.

"Your Kellen’s mother?" I asked.

"Yes I am his proud mother." she said with a smile. "But I was wondering if you would like to come into my home and have some cookies. They are freshly made."

"I would love to." I said with a smile. She then put her arm around me and led me into her home. "So what’s your name? Because I’m sure you don’t want me calling you Kellen’s mom all the time."

"My name is Natasha."

"Well it’s nice to meet you." I said as we walked into the house. The outside of her house was a tan color. And the inside was beautiful. The inside had a homey feeling to it that I couldn’t resist. As Natasha led me to the kitchen I saw pictures of Kellen as a child. He was a cute kid.

"Here you go." Natasha said placing a plate of warm cookies in front of me.

"Thank you so much. It’s been a while since I’ve had homemade cookies." I said taking a bite of one. The chocolate chips melted in my mouth and I couldn’t help but moan at how good they were. I finished my first cookie. "So Natasha where’s Kellen?"

"He should be outside playing football with some of the other boys but I’m not sure." she said with a shrug. "But Kellen told me you guys are mates. Is that true?" she asked me leaning forward in her seat eager to hear what I had to say.

"Yes as far as I know it is true. But he hasn’t claimed me yet." I said.

"But what about Tiffany?" she asked. And just hearing her name made my heart drop a little bit.

"I don’t know but I hope he does something soon." and as if on cue Kellen and his friends came in. Kellen had his arm around Tiffany and they were laughing about something.

Then something i couldn’t believe happened. Tiffany looked up at Kellen with love and Kellen leaned down and kissed Tiffany. It was a long kiss too. And it killed me inside. Finally one of Kellen’s friends noticed I was there and his eyes got wide.

"Well thank you Natasha for the cookies." I said trying to sound happy.

"You are very welcome dear. Come back anytime." she said and gave me a hug. Kellen looked up seeing me for the first time. He smiled but then I guess he realized that he just kissed Tiffany in front of me. My mate kissed another girl! MY MATE!

With tears in my eyes I brushed past everyone and I walked out the door quickly. I barley know the guy yet why am I so torn up about him being with another girl? I didn’t know but the only thing I could think of right now was the pain in my chest and the anger I had towards Tiffany.

"Bridget!" Kellen yelled chasing after me.

"What?!" I said through the tears. My heart being torn in two for a man I barely know.

"Please stop!" Kellen yelled at me.

"Why?! You are obviously happy with Tiffany!!" I yelled back. He was going to say something else but I turned and ran home. I really didn’t want to see him right now. I ran home and into my room from there I collapsed on my bed.